City launches anti youth-violence initiative; Donaldson not impressed

By CLAUDIA ROWE, SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI.COM

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, July 6, 2009

A nationally ranked speaker, dozens of youth workers and recordings of young people talking about their experience of violence -- all of it just so much window dressing to Seattle mayoral candidate James Donaldson.

The former Seattle Sonic watched from the sidelines Tuesday as city officials gathered at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club to kick off their long awaited, $8 million initiative to prevent youth violence. And then he hit the streets, shaking hands from West Seattle to Ballard, talking about himself as mayor.

Violence here may be negligible when compared to that in other cities. (At the anti-violence event Mayor Greg Nickels pointed out that Milwaukee and Washington, D.C. have murder rates quadruple that of Seattle.) But it is an issue on which the incumbent was considered vulnerable only a year ago, after five teens had been shot to death with little visible response from the city.

Youth violence is also a topic near to Donaldson's heart. Almost daily, the former NBA center makes the rounds at Starbucks on 23rd Avenue -- the de facto town square for a neighborhood plagued with shootings -- where he is known as a dedicated youth mentor.

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"It only does so much good to talk -- creating videos and doing window dressing," he said. "We need more police on the streets to give a sense that someone is there to watch over us, and we need to have our adults much more involved. I would be the kind of mayor that's on the ground, talking to our community groups."

To pay for more police and youth services, Donaldson said he would take a hard look at the 700 city employees with annual salaries over $100,000. He also said he was determined to improve the climate in Seattle for small businesses, criticizing regulations that mire owners in lengthy permitting processes for even the smallest improvements.

Despite his neighborhood recognition -- at 7-feet, 2-inches, Donaldson is hard to miss -- his campaign has been floundering financially. But the 51-year-old recently began reaching out to his former teammates and opponents on the basketball court, garnering donations from several retired athletes.

"All of them know Seattle as a beautiful city," he said. "But we don't want to become known as a city gridlocked in traffic, erupting in violence or unbearably difficult to do business in."

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The city's bungled response to last winter's snowstorm and its slow-off-the-mark effort to combat youth violence may have left Nickels vulnerable in some camps. But Donaldson won't be able to count on that. Even some of the mayor's harshest detractors appear impressed with his current efforts.

"I don't remember any other mayor putting this many resources toward youth violence," said Harriet Walden, a frequent critic of the Nickels and the police department. "Even during the 1990s when we had a lot more violence. So I think this is a great start. We wouldn't all be gathered here today without the mayor."